WORLD CUP DAY 5

The Johannesburg metro has invested considerable time, money and energy into providing a reasonable transport plan for the World Cup. It looks good on paper. Certain, if not most of the aspects of the transport plan are excellent and work well in practice thus far. It is a pity that the details of this expensive plan are sometimes lost to the end user. I tried to locate the metro bus stop in Sandton to no avail. There were no buses in sight. None of the persons that I asked, most of whom should have known where the rank was, knew. A lot of them had vested interests and were more concerned about securing my ride to Ellis Park stadium with them. Thus, expecting to use the Johannesburg metro bus service from Sandton to Westgate was futile. The advertised cost of R20 per person ended up costing me R130 per person in alternate transport operated by a taxi company called Gautransie or SATS.  To make matters worse, the taxi “organiser” assured us that the blue band he had strapped to our wrists would ensure that we would be admitted to use the Re Vaya bus from Westgate to the stadium without any further cost. This clearly was dishonest. The Rea Vaya personnel informed us that this was not correct and we had to pay from the Westgate bus zone to the stadium.  

Although my general impressions of the day’s experience were excellent, especially with the second half display of football b y the Brazilian team when they took on the Koreans, there were a few incidents that weighed against the enjoyment.

Parts of the Ellis Park stadium were experiencing a power failure. It was clear that the entrance turnstiles were not backed up by the stadium’s emergency generators. Thousands were attempting to get in from the north entrance. At one stage, I felt that a stampede was very likely and extracted myself and my group from the throngs and proceeded around the long route to the south side, only to find that these turnstiles were also problematic.

The other aspect that marred an exciting day was the condition of the restrooms at Ellis Park stadium. The male toilets on the south side were an absolute disgrace with water and mud on the floors and no attendant in sight.

The South African police had taken over the security of the stadium. They seemed to be in control generally and their efforts must be lauded. There was however an incident in the area of the stands that I was seated in. After the half time period had elapsed, an irate spectator discovered that another person had taken his seat when he returned. A little incident had suddenly turned potentially serious as the two argued vociferously and others joined in. The police were lost for ideas as to how to handle this problem. The bad feelings threatened to erupt once again after the police had left. Fortunately, the fracas settled.

The icy cold conditions in Johannesburg had not subsided. The temperature had fallen to two degrees and remained so for most of the Brazil Korea match.

The Brazil Korea game was rather flat in the first half. Brazil played more like the team that we are accustomed to in the second half. They were rewarded with two goals. The score line however should not detract from the quality of the Korean play for which they were rewarded with a goal in the dying minutes of the game.

The Brazilian supporters were in the majority in the stadium. I expect that more Brazilian nationals shall make the trip to South Africa as the tournament progresses. Slovakia, New Zealand playing at Rustenberg and the Ivory Coast and Portugal at the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium in Port Elizabeth drew their games. Tomorrow is the important game for the host nation South Africa when they take on Uruguay at the Loftus Versefeld Stadium in Pretoria.